Chapter 75: Melancholy After Completion
Nighttime.
Moonlight streamed in through the window.
Inside the room, a rhythmic sound, like music being played, was audible—the clicking of a keyboard.
Engaged, engaged, even more engaged.
Izumi Chihiro had nothing else on his mind, focusing solely on writing, preparing to conclude this final segment of the story.
From the beginning, after his parents were killed, Tanjiro, carrying his sister who had turned into a demon, was guided by Giyu Tomioka. He then became a disciple of Sakonji Urokodaki and later, after passing the selection exam, successfully joined the Demon Slayer Corps, embarking on a path of demon slaying and revenge against the mastermind, the Demon King Kibutsuji Muzan.
After several missions, Tanjiro met Inosuke, Zenitsu, and others, and continuously grew stronger through various battles, evolving from a weakling who could only watch the Flame Pillar brother die to a Pillar-level powerhouse capable of confronting Upper Rank Three directly.
The sacrifices and inspirations, the pain and gratitude along this journey, were all reasons for him to persevere to this point.
And now, the end of the battle had finally arrived.
After a near-death transformation, Tanjiro, as if reborn from the ashes, fearlessly engaged in a fierce battle with Kibutsuji Muzan…
Memories of protagonist Tanjiro's journey suddenly flashed in his mind, but this did not affect his writing state; instead, he became more and more immersed and clear. It was as if two parallel thoughts in his mind were trying to merge different lines of thinking.
Finally, his hands stopped moving.
"It's finished."
"It's finally… concluded."
Izumi Chihiro's expression was complex for a moment, and his self-talk carried a hint of emotion and melancholy.
This period was not long, only about a year, in which he completed his debut work, and it was a work with decent sales. Other editors would express regret upon hearing about it.
However, when it comes to concluding a story, it's best to do it decisively. When it reaches its end, it's the end; there's no need to add too many extraneous elements.
For him, there was no need to gild the lily. While he controlled the details, it was better to stick to the general plot.
demon slayer was his beginning, but it would not be his end. To ascend to the position of a light novel master, he still had to create more excellent works, and the main body of these works had to be expressed in his own words.
"Time to sleep."
Izumi Chihiro sat in his chair, looking at his laptop, thinking many things for a moment, but then, looking back, he felt as if he hadn't thought of anything. With a self-deprecating laugh, he closed the laptop and lay down on his bed.
It was late, and the moon was brighter.
The person lying in bed, however, couldn't fall asleep for a long time.
There seemed to be nothing to be troubled by; his debut work was already complete, yet he couldn't sleep.
This was a frustrating matter.
So, he suffered from insomnia that day.
The next morning.
At breakfast.
"Ni-san, you have dark circles under your eyes. You didn't stay up working, did you?"
Sagiri noticed this with surprise.
"Chihiro, didn't I tell you? You're still of school age; you shouldn't stay up late, okay?"
Izumi's mother's tone was much more serious than usual.
"I didn't stay up late; I just couldn't sleep because I had just finished writing demon slayer yesterday, so I felt a strange sense of melancholy for a while."
Izumi Chihiro explained.
"I see…"
The Izumi mother and daughter exchanged glances and nodded simultaneously.
"It's already finished? Ni-san is really fast! But I'm not slow either; the latest illustrations are almost done. As soon as I finish reading the remaining part of the manuscript, I can start preparing…"
Sagiri's face was beaming with a smile.
This smile came from her increasingly powerful drawing skills.
Izumi Chihiro secretly peeked at the girl's expression and shook his head.
Still smiling?
When you see the final content, don't cry!
Even if he slightly modified the tragic ending, the death of some characters was still unavoidable. All he could do was use more beautiful prose to describe everyone's final farewells.
This was already Izumi Masamune's final kindness.
"Haa…"
Afterward, Izumi Chihiro could only go to school with two very obvious dark circles under his eyes. He hadn't walked a few steps when he ran into the blonde girl riding her bicycle.
"Good morning, Eriri… Huh, why are you riding a bicycle today?"
"What's so strange about changing my way of getting around? It saves me several minutes."
Eriri stopped her bicycle at the intersection and said, looking back.
"I see."
He could also understand. From Detective Slope to the train station was a 6-7 minute walk. If he rode a bicycle, it would indeed be much faster.
"Hurry up, Chihiro. As a boy, how can you be so slow?"
Eriri had already dismounted, holding the handlebars with both hands, and urged him, looking back.
She was planning to walk with him all the way to the train station!
Wasn't this a bit like putting the cart before the horse?
But considering how often they met by chance, neither of them delved into this question.
"Hmm?"
Eriri's gaze sharpened, and she stretched her neck forward a bit, finding something out of place.
"You have dark circles under your eyes? Working so hard? Didn't you tell me not to stay up late before? But you broke your own rule; that's so funny."
The girl's mocking voice came.
Izumi Chihiro could only explain again.
"Hmm? So that's what happened… It's quite normal to feel a bit empty after finishing a work; it's not strange at all."
Eriri strongly agreed with this.
As fellow creators, they could empathize with each other in some aspects.
"But this is only temporary. After a few days, after you rest, you'll naturally start thinking about the details of your next work. Then you'll have new emotions."
She said, speaking from experience.
"Indeed, it seems that being fickle is a common human flaw."
Izumi Chihiro sighed with emotion.
"That's completely different, isn't it?"
Eriri denied.
"I just said it casually, why are you reacting so strongly, Eriri?"
He looked bewildered.
"I'm not reacting strongly at all."
Eriri glared at him.
"?"
Izumi Chihiro made a questioning face.
"Anyway, I'm not…"
Eriri whispered again.
"What did you say, Eriri?"
He turned his head, his gaze puzzled.
"I didn't say anything! I think you're hearing things! Go catch up on sleep after class."
Eriri's eyes were fixed straight ahead.
"Hmm, it's certainly possible I'm hallucinating from being too tired."
Izumi Chihiro yawned again.